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I've got a 2WD F150 I use as a DD and parts hauler, and it's in need of some new tires. I have no idea how to pick tires for a truck.
The truck is obviously not an off-road machine being 2WD, but it does see some bad road/muddy road on occasion. Any recommendations? I have no idea how to choose the best tire. Most of my driving is on the highway, so I don't want too much road noise, but I still want to be able to get SOME traction when I need it.
What size? I'm assuming its a standard load range?
A highway all season (M+S rated) would be fine for anything that could honestly be called a road, and would be more pleasant on the highway. That's probably what I'd do if I were you.
An on/off-road all terrain tire would be appropriate if you were doing anything worse than a mediocre quality dirt road after a moderate rain.
Go to TireRack's website, go through their decision guide, and it'll spit out some useful suggestions.
All of my trucks have been 2wd (actually 1wd with open dif) Every one of them got BFG AT or MT. If you are looking for a quieter ride on the road. Go with either the AT (still some noise) or their Long Trail TA. Had those once and did fairly well in the mud. Keep stock size if you want your spedo correct. Otherwise, go for +1 or 2 if possible to get a little more clearance under it for when you do go off road.
I look for the cheapest load range E tire I can find.
I have always ran some sort of "a/t" tire on my 2 wheel drive trucks. We get a fair amount of snow and there are still some dirt/gravel roads that I travel at times. That said, without knowing your budget and since this is grassroots I'm going to shoot for the lower end of the price spectrum. Mastercraft Courser a/t's have been surprising (had them on my last f-150 for 60k), General Grabbers have a little rougher design but have gotten good reviews (no first hand experience) and I have had really good luck with the Uniroyal liberators that wally mart sells
The BFG A/T's are good choice. They provide a good balance of on and off road capability and wear well. When I wear out the Mud Dawgs that cane with my truck, I'll be getting an set for it...only in 35-12.5-15.
Also, check out the Bridgestone A/T Revo's. Excellent tire.
I'm running the BFG Long Trail TAs on my Bronco right now.
I suggest just getting whatever basic M&S rated Allseason Light Truck tire Costco happens to sell in your size. Doesn't have to be anything fancy, right?
Thanks for all the help, guys. One more question. What's the nomenclature behind the "a/t" and the "m/t" and all that?
AT is usually "all terrain", which makes it a little more aggressive than an allseason. MT is "mud terrain", which will be more aggressive than an AT, and designed to shed mud from between the tread blocks.
I've run Fisk Sport King AT's on three trucks over the years and I've been very pleased with them.
They're made on the same molds as the older BFG AT's (there's even rumours that Fisk makes the BFG version as well)
They're great on pavement and in the snow and they wear like iron.
Shawn
racinginc215 wrote:I'll suggest whatever takes offs you can get. seeing how stock sizes are usually pulled to make way for the 24's you can get smoking deals on truck tires. I actually watched mine come off a 09 F-150 with the window sticker still on it and get mounted to my wheels for 180.00 out the door. While they mounted 24's to the 09 and had the 09 wheels for sale in the window. they are bridgestone dueler a/t list new is 150.00 a tire.
+1 I got a deal so good on ebay that I was worried that I bought stolen parts. I got 4 tires with aluminum wheels for a winning bid of $404. They were like new wheels off of a F350 - Firestone E range. The guy even delivered them 1/2 way - I met him at a truck stop and he was in his F350 with huge (38"?? maybe) tires.
racinginc215 wrote:I'll suggest whatever takes offs you can get. seeing how stock sizes are usually pulled to make way for the 24's you can get smoking deals on truck tires. I actually watched mine come off a 09 F-150 with the window sticker still on it and get mounted to my wheels for 180.00 out the door. While they mounted 24's to the 09 and had the 09 wheels for sale in the window. they are bridgestone dueler a/t list new is 150.00 a tire.
+1 I got a deal so good on ebay that I was worried that I bought stolen parts. I got 4 tires with aluminum wheels for a winning bid of $404. They were like new wheels off of a F350 - Firestone E range. The guy even delivered them 1/2 way - I met him at a truck stop and he was in his F350 with huge (38"?? maybe) tires.
You could also check out treadwright.com if you're down with retreads. I've got the the guard dogs on my truck now and have no complaints. They're DOT approved and dirt cheap. I got my tires (265/75-16) shipped to my door for about $500.
DILYSI Dave wrote:I look for the cheapest load range E tire I can find.
Gotta agree with Dave here, trucks are about hauling and load rating pretty much describes how much you can haul.
i go to pull a part.
picked up a set of 4 225/75/16 load range E firestone commercial truck tires on the correct 8 lug wheels i needed with excellent tread for $69 out the door.
i love the Firestone Transforce AT's i just got on my truck. it's a '79 Chevy 3/4 ton 4X4 chassis with an 87 GMC body on it, but it rides every bit as good as most newer trucks and goes thru the snow and ice really well. before, it just had some mismatched 265/70/16's with about 50% of the tread left on it, and i thought it did pretty good for what it is and had what i thought were "normal" vibration and handling characteristics for a 30 year old 3/4 ton chassis. now, with the 265/75/16 Transforce AT's on it, it is like a totally different truck- no road noise, good traction, and most importantly- no funny vibes, even with the minimal amount of weight they had to add to balance them. if it didn't only get 12mpg, i'd drive it the 65 miles to work every day instead of my 35mpg '97 Cavalier..
Timeormoney wrote:Gotta agree with Dave here, trucks are about hauling and load rating pretty much describes how much you can haul.
I think the 4.2L V6 might have something to say about that.
I prefer Bridgestone Revos for anything that might seen action off pavement... but they are very composed and capable on pavement as well.
Then I was told that the Fuzion XTi AT is the same basic tire with a slightly different tread pattern and a lot lower price (like $100ea versus the Revo $160ea) so I've been buying those lately and find then an exceptional value.
The catch (and there always is one) is that they are only available in a P rating (as are a good number of the Revo sizes)... so if you need an LT rating along with a higher load rating, you're forced into the Revo...
Bill
Goodyear SilentArmor. Quiet on the highway, decent in mud, last forever.
+12 on the BFG AT's i got 5 at 35K (goodyears suck) and i have 115K now and with reasonable rotations and using the spare I have more than half my tread left on all of them. pretty quiet to for an AT.
the take offs idea is good too if you can find them. you didnt say the year of what you drive and a lot of new trucks have 16 inch wheels from the factory where older ones are typically 15 inch
I just bought some ProComps because I couldnt find BFG All Terrians in the size I wanted. The ProComps have 50,000 mile warranty and 18/32nds of tread.
Tire Rack lost my business because they didnt have any tires that would fit my truck and its stock rims. (20" rims on my '06 F150)
I went to my local independent tire guy (Radial Tire Company in Silver Spring MD - they're race tire experts, can shave tires, and generally beat tire rack once labor is factored in) and asked Paul, the owner what he liked for my 2WD Tacoma SR5 Pre-Runner which takes a 265/70-16. He asked how long I intended to keep it, his rationale being that the if I were to keep it another 75k or better he'd recommend Michelin LTX A/T2s which would be a bit under $800/set out the door. If I wasn't keeping it that long he'd recommend something cheaper and less long wearing.
Considering that I've never said "You know, I really wish I hadn't bought such good tires..." I threw down for the Michelins and was very favorably impressed during the snowmageddon, snowpocolypse, brutal-snow-laden-winter-of-our-discontent.
A bit spendy but it drives like a new truck, has good dry, wet and snowy grip and nice road manners. And they're supposed to wear like iron.
BFG Long Trail TAs, very quiet next to Goodyears on a Ranger 2wd. Cheap at Discount Tire, too!
